http://drewgilbert.com
Drew Gilbert - Father, Husband, Filmmaker, ArtistThu, 04 Jun 2015 11:25:22 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.3DrewGilberthttps://feedburner.google.comThe Art of Looking Aroundhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DrewGilbert/~3/-bhGNbwV81w/
http://drewgilbert.com/2015/02/27/art-looking-around/#commentsFri, 27 Feb 2015 20:15:05 +0000http://drewgilbert.com/?p=3456There was a time I had the groove of stopping to observe my surroundings, grabbing photos with my (at that time) iPhone 4 and sharing them. Instagram was my favorite place to share stuff, we were always on the move and sharing photos from where we traveled was totally fun. Somewhere along the way, I …

Where to find my art:

]]>

There was a time I had the groove of stopping to observe my surroundings, grabbing photos with my (at that time) iPhone 4 and sharing them. Instagram was my favorite place to share stuff, we were always on the move and sharing photos from where we traveled was totally fun.

Somewhere along the way, I just stopped. I took forever to upgrade the phone, I spent too long in Mexico, nothing felt fresh. By not sharing moments, I lost the ability to look for them.

It’s been a weird struggle, but I’ve been gradually getting back in the swing of things. I just finished a week in Quincy, CA where I put on a free screening, set up by our friend Tiffiney and hosted by The West End Theater. I mostly worked while I was there, but when I got to explore, I took advantage of the views. Even simple things started to jump out as worth looking at.

I got the chance to do my first radio interview, that was low key and fun to do.

We also got a write up in the local paper, which is even more cool.

AND maybe the most fun was seeing a poster hanging in the theater window.

I’m going to brag now, so if that might bother you, just move along and consider this the end of the post. Thanks for reading! you’re awesome!

So if you stuck around, here goes;

A woman approached me after last night’s Q&A. She told me she was 60 years old and that this is the closest thing to a “life changing moment”. She asked if it was safe and okay for a woman to travel solo around the world. I told her it was fine, that she only had to google “Solo female traveler” to find advocates for women traveling on their own around the world.

She thanked me for sharing the film. She didn’t know me before that night. Just a stranger who, it would seem, is going to start planning a new chapter in her life after watching The Wireless Generation.

That was the best compliment I’ve received so far. Better than anything else, no question. Ultimately, that’s the point of the film. That reaction was my goal. I’m happy I was able to achieve it, even if it’s just with this one person.

Where to find my art:

]]>http://drewgilbert.com/2015/02/27/art-looking-around/feed/4http://drewgilbert.com/2015/02/27/art-looking-around/This was San Franciscohttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DrewGilbert/~3/uJVvmwJQm4Y/
http://drewgilbert.com/2015/02/22/san-francisco/#commentsSun, 22 Feb 2015 14:59:02 +0000http://drewgilbert.com/?p=3418San Francisco is a wrap. The screening went extremely well, and this time around, I fell in love with the city a little more than I had in previous trips. This time around I spent most of my time in and around the Tenderloin neighborhood, and have decided that every other place in San Francisco is …

Where to find my art:

]]>

San Francisco is a wrap. The screening went extremely well, and this time around, I fell in love with the city a little more than I had in previous trips.

This time around I spent most of my time in and around the Tenderloin neighborhood, and have decided that every other place in San Francisco is boring by comparison. It’s insane and dingy and I could spend a month exploring just the one area and never get bored of it’s crazyness.

I am sort of obsessed with textures, and I love graffiti. Tenderloin has more than enough of both for me to enjoy for ages.

I found a Turkish restaurant while skyping with Christine, so she looked them up and told me what I could order that would be the same as what her and the kids are eating in Turkey. It was my first time eating turkish food, I ordered ispanakli borek (spinach and cheese pastry), and the kid’s favorite, a cheese pide.

Before the screening I could not decide if I should drink a coffee or a beer for my nerves. I chose coffee, which very quickly seemed like overkill. When I said as much on Facebook my friend Tiffiney suggested I just go get a beer too. It was a very smart idea.

The screening went even better than Seattle. There were more people who simply found the film through Eventbrite or some other means, with no ties to Christine or myself, who told me after the film that they really enjoyed it.

]]>http://drewgilbert.com/2015/02/22/san-francisco/feed/2http://drewgilbert.com/2015/02/22/san-francisco/The tour continues! – Seattle to San Franciscohttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DrewGilbert/~3/S0VSR07scbk/
http://drewgilbert.com/2015/02/18/tour-continues-seattle-san-francisco/#commentsWed, 18 Feb 2015 22:10:08 +0000http://drewgilbert.com/?p=3412This is what I’m good at. I seem to thrive if I’m making myself mildly suffer. After giving up on my initial plan to buy a motorcycle to road trip the tour (Probably for the best) I hopped on a 23 hour Greyhound bus ride from Seattle to San Francisco. There is something …

Where to find my art:

]]>

This is what I’m good at. I seem to thrive if I’m making myself mildly suffer. After giving up on my initial plan to buy a motorcycle to road trip the tour (Probably for the best) I hopped on a 23 hour Greyhound bus ride from Seattle to San Francisco.

There is something inherently comfortable for me in this space. Something about that release of control, knowing, no matter what, this sh*t is going to take a long freaking time, that puts me back in the same exciting space I was in when I took the train around India, or when I did the Tough Guy race before Cole was born.

You may notice both trips I referenced were done without Christine or the family in tow. There’s a special sort of “by-the-seat-of-my-pants” thrill that happens when I travel alone that I don’t experience when I travel with my family. With the family I feel this need to fret over every single thing everyone is doing, not to mention it means carrying more things. For me now, it’s one big backpack and that’s it.

Easy breezy. I feel weird saying that I get a kick out of this stuff, I think literally no one that I know would actually enjoy a day on a bus.

So now it’s SAN FRANCISCO PEOPLE! I’m here, and the temperature is perfect, the neighbourhoods are full of crazy people and interesting things to see. Tomorrow, the second screening goes down at the Ninth Street Independent Film Center, and we still have some tickets available! If you are in the area or know someone around San Francisco who wants to check out the film, let them know.

Where to find my art:

]]>http://drewgilbert.com/2015/02/18/tour-continues-seattle-san-francisco/feed/1http://drewgilbert.com/2015/02/18/tour-continues-seattle-san-francisco/How To Do Valentine’s Day When You Are Not Sentimentalhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DrewGilbert/~3/nfSBTZOoWHI/
http://drewgilbert.com/2015/02/14/valentines-day-not-sentimental/#commentsSat, 14 Feb 2015 21:38:34 +0000http://drewgilbert.com/?p=3409I’m really missing my wife right now. I’d say it’s because it’s Valentine’s Day, and that she’s on the other side of the world, but that’s only half true. Through some miraculous luck, I ended up marrying a truly un-sentimental woman. Together we are deeply un-sentimental on a level bordering on nihilist. On our six-year …

Where to find my art:

]]>

I’m really missing my wife right now.

I’d say it’s because it’s Valentine’s Day, and that she’s on the other side of the world, but that’s only half true. Through some miraculous luck, I ended up marrying a truly un-sentimental woman. Together we are deeply un-sentimental on a level bordering on nihilist.

On our six-year anniversary (If I am remembering this correctly) I was away working in Pennsylvania at dinner with some co-workers. Someone asked me how long I had been married. That’s when I realised it was our anniversary. I texted Christine to tell her, she was also dining with co-workers, and she texted back that she ALSO had just realised it was our anniversary while talking to her friends.

So that’s about the level we’re at. When our ten year anniversary was coming up, we actually had a conversation about what we could try to do so we wouldn’t feel guilty at not doing much of anything.

No, the reason I miss my wife is because while I am here in Seattle, feeling like more than half of my brain is missing, Christine is out there having her own big adventure, and she’s really great at it. I’m amazed that she is able to not only bounce from place to place, but take photos along the way, and tell stories about it, and all of the other things she does behind the scenes that make our lives work, and help me work out the logistics of my own trip.

I don’t see how great that is when I am up super close to it. It gets lost, normalised. I’m getting to see her do her thing as if I’m a reader of her blog, but I also get to see the process of how she gets those things done. Late nights, no moments wasted. If she has five minutes of free time, four and a half minutes of that will be spent Getting Stuff Done.

I’m on my own adventure for now, and it’s a good one. And while it is Valentine’s Day, these tips I’m about to drop can be applied by anyone, at any time, and they should be.

Here’s what you do when it’s Valentine’s Day and you and your partner aren’t the sentimental type. Super easy, just two things:

1 – LISTEN.

Put down your phone. Look up from the computer. Make eye contact. Pay attention. If you are being spoken to, be respectful of them and their time. These days, that goes a long way.

2 – BE PLEASANT

Some people are a natural at being pleasant. I am… prickly… and high strung. If you fall somewhere in between happy-go-lucky and high-strung-Drew, then just make an effort to be nicer than you were the day before, without conditions on what needs to happen for you to be nice.

THAT’S ALL THE TIPS. Really, not being sentimental is not an excuse to not make an effort. And the very least anyone can do for their partner, the very least a partner can expect from their significant other, is to try.

Where to find my art:

]]>http://drewgilbert.com/2015/02/14/valentines-day-not-sentimental/feed/0http://drewgilbert.com/2015/02/14/valentines-day-not-sentimental/This Is What Years Of Mail Looks Likehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DrewGilbert/~3/aS2hBeZ2n9Y/
http://drewgilbert.com/2015/02/12/years-mail-looks-like/#commentsThu, 12 Feb 2015 04:27:48 +0000http://drewgilbert.com/?p=3392This is the glamorous life of a digital nomad. It’s not all wind swept hair (I don’t have any) and mimosas (ok so it’s occasionally mimosas, but that happens way less often than you probably think. ). Our address, technically, is here in Seattle. When we need something mailed, we send it to our mail …

Where to find my art:

]]>

This is the glamorous life of a digital nomad. It’s not all wind swept hair (I don’t have any) and mimosas (ok so it’s occasionally mimosas, but that happens way less often than you probably think. ).

Our address, technically, is here in Seattle. When we need something mailed, we send it to our mail service here, where it remains until we are able to come and pick it up.

That has happened twice since we started using it. One of those times was this week. I walked the 1.6 miles from my friend’s apartment in Belltown to downtown. It wasn’t a wasted walk. Along with endorphins came some impressive eye candy.

(This was the only food truck I’ve run into in Seattle so far)

I emptied out my big backpack for the trip, I really didn’t know what to expect. “Do they give you like, a box?” Christine asked me. I had no idea. I figured it had to be bad.

Turns out it wasn’t so bad. The mail service will scan items and we can trash stuff we don’t want, and we try to trim, but I didn’t need a box after all. I barely needed my backpack.

Among other things of note, Christine’s driver’s license (woo!) A couple of books sent to Christine from a PR rep who was not aware we weren’t going to get to read them in a timely fashion.

And my school records.

When I read the files in this folder, I see a kid who clearly had ADHD and no one knew it. This will be a future project for me, showing people how a good kid with ADHD does when it isn’t caught.

And like someone with ADHD (which I am), I don’t know how to end this post, other than to offer up these two books to whoever wants them. If you want either Naked and Marooned or I Didn’t Know That About New York, just leave a comment here or in the Facebook link to this post on The Wireless Generation, and I’ll pick someone randomly before I leave Seattle and drop that in the mail for you.

Our mail is your gain!

Where to find my art:

]]>http://drewgilbert.com/2015/02/12/years-mail-looks-like/feed/4http://drewgilbert.com/2015/02/12/years-mail-looks-like/The Seattle Premierehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DrewGilbert/~3/XCK0yqOZ13w/
http://drewgilbert.com/2015/02/08/seattle-premiere/#commentsSun, 08 Feb 2015 13:40:45 +0000http://drewgilbert.com/?p=3383I’m an emotional wreck whenever I’m doing anything the first time. On Thursday night, The Wireless Generation premiered in Seattle. I was a mess most of the day. With more than enough time to spare, I left my friend’s apartment and headed to Capitol Hill, where the Northwest Film Forum would show the film. The whole of …

Where to find my art:

]]>

I’m an emotional wreck whenever I’m doing anything the first time.

On Thursday night, The Wireless Generation premiered in Seattle. I was a mess most of the day. With more than enough time to spare, I left my friend’s apartment and headed to Capitol Hill, where the Northwest Film Forum would show the film. The whole of years of work distilled into one USB stick. I called it my “Boom Stick” to give me a little extra confidence.

It worked a little.

Here is where the process gets surreal for me. I just go to movies, you know? I arrive at a theater, I pick a seat, the movie plays. The end. No one brings a film to a theater, hands it to someone who works there, checks to see if it looks and sounds okay. That process doesn’t exist in my moviegoing experience.

But I did that. I got to see the process for a small film. It’s sort of unremarkable, really. The other theater was playing a 35mm film. That, to me, felt remarkable, sophisticated. I felt, like I tend to feel most days, like I’m flying by the seat of my pants.

Then people started to arrive. Many I knew in person, some for nearly two decades. And from different eras of my life. Some from my first full time professional job, one from my last job. Travel bloggers like my wife. Others I met online originally due to similar interests, a guy I met in the Seattle hostel I stayed in while getting a van to head to Mexico before my daughter was born.

Many of them either knew Christine personally or were readers of her blog, people who had built a relationship with Christine that I was not aware of, maybe they had some ideas about who I am, and I have no idea what that means, if anything.

But with each person from my life who walked in the door, I felt more and more comfortable. Their familiarity made the environment feel familiar, even though it was not at all the case for me. I was really grateful that so many people I care about came out to support me and the film, it buoyed me through this first film screening.

And it went extremely well! I mean, it’s that or an entire theater of people decided to be dishonest with me.

Um…

In seriousness, now that the first of these is out of the way, I feel really confident going forward. Like this tour is a thing, that it’s happening and fully possible. This was my first time seeing the film on a big screen, the same as everyone else. I was thrilled.

Where to find my art:

]]>http://drewgilbert.com/2015/02/08/seattle-premiere/feed/2http://drewgilbert.com/2015/02/08/seattle-premiere/The Wireless Generation Premieres In TWO Dayshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DrewGilbert/~3/2sY6jmYAyKY/
http://drewgilbert.com/2015/02/03/the-wireless-generation-premiere-shortly/#commentsTue, 03 Feb 2015 15:16:30 +0000http://drewgilbert.com/?p=3358So, this is happening. *deep breath* In 2010 Christine and I got an idea in our heads we wanted to make a documentary about people who worked at a career while they traveled, the way we had been for two years at that point. We raised some money for equipment, took our four month old …

Where to find my art:

]]>

So, this is happening. *deep breath*

In 2010 Christine and I got an idea in our heads we wanted to make a documentary about people who worked at a career while they traveled, the way we had been for two years at that point. We raised some money for equipment, took our four month old son and started traveling around the world, looking for subjects to interview about how they lived their lives once they were able to get away from the cubicle.

We liked what we had, and we wanted to show it to people in a big way, so we raised some more money to finish the film and get it out to everyone via a fun film tour.

This film tour. I’ll be going that goes all over the country, and it starts in two days in Seattle!

And you know, I *like* the film, which is impressive coming from someone who has had to watch it fifty million times. And I’m excited to get to meet with any of you who want to come out to see it.

And I’m petrified. I’ve been working at it for so long now that I am not sure I look at it objectively anymore. The monumental amount of work it took over the years for two people to see this through to completion, the hard decisions to cut what didn’t work. I’ve taken weeks off from watching it myself, and when I pop it back on, my reaction is always “Huh, I still like it!”

People have been waiting for this film for a long time, and now many of you will get a chance to see it. If you want to come see a screening in one of the cities, you can find ticket information here.

Once the tour is finished, the digital download will be made available to the public on June 1st. If you can’t come see the film at one of the screenings but still want to see the film at your leisure, you can pre-order the digital download or DVD here.

I’ll be blogging and instagramming a storm here, using the #workanywhere hashtag. If you want to follow along you can subscribe to this blog (over on the sidebar) or catch us over on The Wireless Generation Facebook page, where we are also showing off where people are working in exotic or fun places around the world.

]]>http://drewgilbert.com/2015/02/03/the-wireless-generation-premiere-shortly/feed/5http://drewgilbert.com/2015/02/03/the-wireless-generation-premiere-shortly/Then I Sort Of Lost Control Of My Beardhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DrewGilbert/~3/8XHtQB3BlLI/
http://drewgilbert.com/2015/01/26/sort-lost-control-beard/#commentsMon, 26 Jan 2015 14:38:24 +0000http://drewgilbert.com/?p=3367If you can make your beard into the shape of a handlebar moustache, are you winning at beard or losing at beard? This summer I started growing the facial hair out. The final playground of the grown-ass-man. Christine was for it, we agreed that it was the “Bike Tour Beard”. There wouldn’t be a ton …

Where to find my art:

]]>

If you can make your beard into the shape of a handlebar moustache, are you winning at beard or losing at beard?

This summer I started growing the facial hair out. The final playground of the grown-ass-man. Christine was for it, we agreed that it was the “Bike Tour Beard”. There wouldn’t be a ton of places to shave, so it made sense to just roll with it, “take back control” and do it on purpose.

Then we reached Romania and tucked into Sibiu to get some work done, and the beard remained. When I discussed shaving it, Christine jokingly forbid it. She had this (naive, hahaha) idea that she was going to make me grow the beard until it became so unbearable that I would never threaten to grow my facial hair out again.

It didn’t take. I mean, obviously. That was this summer and this thing is still going. I sort of think she’s starting to like it.

Now, with me leaving Christine and the kids to tour our movie, I’m forced to make the choice of shaving this thing off and (as always, any time I shave my facial hair off) looking like a peeled potato for a few days, or keeping it until I see my kids again.

I can’t leave my children while rocking a beard, return to them three months later looking like a peeled potato. That would freak them out. I wouldn’t want my little girl to cry like this little girl did when her dad shaved his beard off. (See video below.)

So the beard stays on the face until I reunite with these kids. If you come see me while I tour the film, I’ll be the somewhat lumberjack-looking guy taking questions after each showing.

Where to find my art:

]]>http://drewgilbert.com/2015/01/26/sort-lost-control-beard/feed/2http://drewgilbert.com/2015/01/26/sort-lost-control-beard/#WorkAnywhere Film Tourhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DrewGilbert/~3/2Nd3PD0FjQM/
http://drewgilbert.com/2015/01/13/workanywhere-film-tour/#commentsTue, 13 Jan 2015 10:21:33 +0000http://drewgilbert.com/?p=3363We’re touring the film across the US this spring (you can get tickets here) but we’re also doing lots of fun stuff on our Facebook Page. From now until the final screening (NYC 4/30) we’ll be posting pictures of YOUR #workanywhere office. Have a picture of yourself working from an hammock in SE Asia or …

Where to find my art:

]]>

We’re touring the film across the US this spring (you can get tickets here) but we’re also doing lots of fun stuff on our Facebook Page. From now until the final screening (NYC 4/30) we’ll be posting pictures of YOUR #workanywhere office. Have a picture of yourself working from an hammock in SE Asia or overlooking a beautiful view in South America or sitting in a cafe in Europe? Send them in! Here’s how it works:

]]>http://drewgilbert.com/2015/01/13/workanywhere-film-tour/feed/3http://drewgilbert.com/2015/01/13/workanywhere-film-tour/This Is The Sweet Spothttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DrewGilbert/~3/08_HuQkeCE4/
http://drewgilbert.com/2015/01/02/sweet-spot/#commentsFri, 02 Jan 2015 20:47:29 +0000http://drewgilbert.com/?p=3347When we were expecting baby number two, not one person spoke up to let us know “Hey guys, congratulations! Also, going from one child to two is way, way harder than going from zero children to one.” I understand why no one spoke up, it would be a tremendous buzzkill to drop on newly expecting …

Where to find my art:

]]>

When we were expecting baby number two, not one person spoke up to let us know “Hey guys, congratulations! Also, going from one child to two is way, way harder than going from zero children to one.”

I understand why no one spoke up, it would be a tremendous buzzkill to drop on newly expecting parents. And who knows? Maybe we would be lucky and it would all be a breeze. Why rock the boat before the potential storm rolled in?

It hasn’t been a breeze. I love these two more than anything else in the world and would not wish this time away, but for sure, two kids gets cray-cray super fast, and as my wife very eloquently put, we didn’t become good at parenting two kids, we merely outlasted the super crazy early phase that occasionally felt very overwhelming.

So what happened? We still have one laid back dude in no huge rush to do things, a homebody like his dad. We still have one viking daughter intent on doing All. Of. The. Things. And growing as fast as humanly possible on her way towards total world domination. We’re basically raising Brienne of Tarth with fantastically unfortunate hair growth (sorry Stella, you can thank your mom for that. I’m told your mom didn’t have much of any hair until she was three so at least you’re doing better than that, right?).

Recently without any warning, our viking daughter became unbelievably sweet and affectionate. Occasionally even super-snuggly, something she wasn’t thrilled to do in her first 20 months or so. She speaks a ton, loves to draw even more than I do (I have a picture of her loopy handiwork as my new Facebook and Twitter cover pics) and is so, so affectionate now. She smothers us in booger-filled kisses and tells us that she loves us. She’s found a renewed love of snuggling and loves to do every single thing we do (or the baby equivalent).

If this comes across as me putting the responsibility for the chaos of the household on it’s littlest member, that is not my intention. Cole will be turning 5 in a couple of months, which means he has been very stereotypically 4 years old all year, with all the hilarious-until-hair-pulling curiosity that comes along with that. With one child wanting to know everything we can tell him, and his sister wanting to do all of the things, my ADHD has been on fire, rendering me a stressy mess much of the time.

But now we are in the sweet spot, where Cole is just a little less curious and Stella is much more affectionate and life feels like it can calm down and we can probably enjoy each other more than we ever have before. As the family worrier, of course I am concerned that this will trick us into lowering our guard and fast-tracking child number 3.

“Oh my god it’s so great, let’s make another one and keep this sweetness gravy train going!”

It’s not that we are stopping with just these two, in fact we typically talk about having four in total. The tricky thing is just to not get to the baby making NOW.

THIS IS NOT AS EASY AS IT SOUNDS. Guys, it’s not that we can’t keep our hands to ourselves, it’s just… it’s so nice now! These kids are outstanding, even as Cole jumps on my shoulders and tries to claw my eyes out in an attempt to wrestle with me as I type this (we’re going to have to have a talk about the eye gouging thing. I don’t know where he learned that technique). It’s so easy to consider having more kids now, because it’s so easy to be grateful for what we have right now.

Is this how everyone ends up with more kids? They just forget that there was a big pain in the ass period?